[Centraal] Crisis in Syri� #354

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President Bashar al-Assad was out of step with the views of his main ally, Russia, when he said he planned to fight on until he re-established control over all of Syria, Russia's envoy to the United Nations was quoted as saying on Thursday.

In the first public sign of cracks in the alliance between Moscow and Damascus, the envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said Russia had helped Assad turn the tide of the war so it was now incumbent on him to follow Russia's line and commit to peace talks.

Churkin said Russia was working toward a peaceful settlement for Syria, and that attempting to take back control over the whole country would be a futile exercise which would allow the conflict to drag on indefinitely.

Asked in an interview with Kommersant newspaper about Assad's comments that he would keep fighting until all rebels were defeated, Churkin said: "Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically, and now also in the military sense.

"Therefore we of course would like that Bashar al Assad should take account of that."

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"I heard President Assad's remarks on television... Of course they do not chime with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is undertaking.... The discussions are about a ceasefire, a cessation of hostilities in the foreseeable future. Work is underway on this."

Moscow and Damascus have been in lock-step since the end of September last year, when Russia launched air strikes on Syria which focused on attacking rebels opposed to Assad's rule.

The Russian strikes saved Assad's forces from imminent collapse and turned the tide of the fighting in his favor, exasperating the United States and its allies which have been working for years to defeat him.

Western diplomats expressed hope that Russia could use its influence over Assad to persuade him to start talks with armed opposition groups and eventually agree to step down.

Unofficial reports have emerged of Assad refusing to meet opposition figures proposed by Moscow as potential negotiating partners, but Churkin's remarks are the first public sign that Moscow is frustrated with Assad's reluctance to compromise.

On Assad's comments about fighting on in Syria, Churkin said in the interview: "In this case I think that we ought to be guided not by what he (Assad) says, with all my respect to the remarks of such a high-ranking person, but by what he does in the end.

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"If the Syrian authorities... follow Russia's lead in the resolution of this crisis, then they have a chance to get out of it with their dignity intact."

"But if in some way they are knocked off that path -- and this again is my personal opinion -- then a very difficult situation could arise. Including for the Syrians themselves. Because whatever the capabilities of the Syrian army, it was the effective operations of Russian air forces that allowed them to push their opponents back from Damascus."

"If they take the position that they don't need any ceasefire, and they need to fight on to the end and to victory, then this conflict is going to carry on for a very long time. And it's frightening to imagine that," Churkin said.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Christian Lowe)

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 22:15 schreef PSVCL het volgende:
Erdogan for Khalif !

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 22:23 schreef PSVCL het volgende:

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Ik ben geen arabier maar een Berber.
En wij Moslims zijn 1,wij horen geen onderscheid te maken zoals in de Koran staat

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 22:32 schreef Domingesto het volgende:

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Smakeloos.

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 22:33 schreef PSVCL het volgende:

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Seculiere PKK koerden die aanslagen plegen in Turkije verdienen uit geroeid te worden dat zijn namelijk terroristen.
Koerden die zich gewoon normaal gedragen zijn onze Moslim broeders.

Berbers hebben niks te klagen in Noord afrika , we hebben daar geen problemen met verarabiseerde Berber broeders

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 22:39 schreef PSVCL het volgende:
Jullie zijn hypocriet man , de haat voor de Islam zit te diep om normaal te kunnen discussi�ren .

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Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s prime minister, was keen to make a point. All the evidence suggested that the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were responsible for Wednesday evening’s car bomb in Ankara that killed 28 people, he declared on the morning after the attack.

For Davutoğlu, this “certain” conclusion demonstrated the truth of what Turkey had been saying all along: that the YPG and its political arm in northern Syria, the Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD), are terrorists who are no different from Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK).

“A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established,” Davutoğlu said. It had received logistical support from PKK militants inside Turkish territory, he added. But both the YPG and the PKK flatly deny responsibility. The PYD leader, Salim Muslim, also said his group was not involved.

These denials, plus the speed, unusually detailed nature and alacrity of Davutoğlu’s announcement, will raise questions about the thoroughness of the investigation, the accuracy of its findings and possible political motivations.

Turkey says Kurds in Syria responsible for Ankara car bomb
Read more
On the face of it, the prime minister’s claim that Turkey’s security services have uncovered the identity, birthplace, personal history and political affiliation of the alleged bomber within hours of the attack looks suspicious. If they knew so much about the movements of the accused – Salih Necer, a 24-year-old Syrian national – why were they unable to stop him?

In the wake of suicide bombings targeting a mainly Kurdish peace rally in Ankara last October that killed more than 100 people, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quickly accused the PKK – ethnic Kurdish militants from Turkey’s south-east – and Syrian Kurds of blowing up their own people. It later transpired that Isis caused the blasts. But blaming the Kurds suited Erdoğan’s political ends.

A similar process may now be underway, except it has been accelerated. True or not, fingering the Syrian Kurds for Wednesday’s attack serves a number of official purposes. Curbs on media reporting in Turkey make it harder to challenge the authorised version of events.

First and foremost, claims of Syrian Kurd responsibility send a powerful message to the Obama administration, which values the PYD/YPG as an effective ally against Isis and has refused to designate it a terrorist group. The resulting row with the US has been exploited by Moscow. Russian forces in Syria are backing YPG fighters, who have recently made significant territorial gains.

“It is out of the question for us to excuse tolerance toward a terrorist organisation that targets our people in our capital,” Davutoğlu said, taking aim at the US and Russia. Erdoğan, too, took the opportunity to press the US over the YPG in remarks delivered on Thursday.

Second, the official narrative strengthens Turkey’s argument for continuing to exclude the PYD from the Syrian peace talks in Geneva, due to resume next week. Turkey believes its fears that the Syrian Kurds could establish an autonomous territorial zone along its southern border, linked to that controlled by the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, are not taken seriously by the west.

Hundreds of armed rebels cross from Turkey into Syria, says monitor
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“Just as al-Qaida or Daesh (Isis) do not have seats at the table, the YPG, which is a terrorist organisation, cannot have one,” Davutoğlu said.

Third, pinning the blame on the Kurds helps justify the Turkish army’s continuing cross-border artillery bombardment of Syrian Kurd positions, its security crackdown in the south-east, and the assistance it is giving to rebel groups and Islamists who have been crossing into Syria from Turkey in their hundreds this week to oppose the YPG advances.

If Turkey succeeds in convincing the US and other allies that the Syrian Kurds are enemies, it may feel emboldened to launch a more direct, military intervention on the ground – a move Erdoğan has frequently threatened in the teeth of Washington’s opposition. It called this week for all its western and Gulf allies to join an operation inside Syria. Turkey wants to establish a “humanitarian zone” inside northern Syria where refugees can find protection, rather than join the migrant exodus. It has long been pushing the Americans to support some form of no-fly zone, and this week secured the backing of Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor. The US opposes the idea.

Speaking shortly before the Ankara attack, Erdoğan voiced his fury at US links with the Syrian Kurds: “At the moment, I have difficulty in understanding America, which still hasn’t called or still cannot call the PYD and the YPG terrorists.” In the murky aftermath of Wednesday’s carnage, Erdoğan and Davutoğlu plainly believe they have proved their point.

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gaskellpuppy twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 21:49:06 In #turkey Amazing how intelligence service who couldn't stop a bomb next to parliament know who did it in 2 hours https://t.co/neQT0ZXqt3 reageer retweet

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Een lid van de Syrisch-Koerdische militie YPG is volgens de Turkse regering de dader van de bomaanslag gisterenavond in Ankara. Premier Ahmet Davutoglu zei voor de Turkse televisie dat de dader afkomstig was uit Syri� en in Turkije hulp kreeg van de Koerdische Arbeiders Partij PKK.

De YPG heeft donderdagavond herhaalt dat zij niets met de aanslag te maken heeft. Volgens de militie zoekt Ankara naar een excuses om de Koerdische strijders in Syri� aan te vallen. Op donderdagavond schoten Turkse tanks opnieuw op Koerdische stellingen in Syri�.

De Turkse regering heeft de ambassadeurs van de vijf permanente leden van de VN-Veiligheidsraad ontboden om hen in te lichten over details van de aanslag. Ook de vertegenwoordigers van de EU en Nederland, die het tijdelijke voorzitterschap heeft, zijn daarbij uitgenodigd.

Met de ongebruikelijke stap om ambassadeurs van bevriende landen in detail in te lichten over de aanslag, wil de Turkse regering kennelijk opnieuw duidelijk maken dat de Koerdische PYD en militaire arm YPG in Syri� wel degelijk thuishoren op de lijst terroristische organisaties. Daarover is een grote ruzie ontstaan met NAVO-bondgenoot de VS, die de Syrisch-Koerdische organisaties zien als de belangrijkste bondgenoot in de strijd tegen Islamitische Staat.

Identiteit dader
Onze veiligheidsdienst heeft voldoende informatie verzameld om vast te stellen dat zij het gedaan hebben

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
De Turkse autoriteiten wisten binnen een half etmaal de identiteit van de dader te produceren, er verscheen zelfs een foto van hem in de media. Enkele uren na de aanslag bombardeerden Turkse gevechtsvliegtuigen PKK-kampen in de bergen van Noord-Irak. Daarbij werden 70 militanten van de PKK volgens premier Davutoglu 'geneutraliseerd'. In zijn toespraak op de Turkse tv benadrukte de premier dat Turkije ook door zal gaan met het bombarderen van YPG-stellingen in het noorden van Syri�. Hij herhaalde het Turkse standpunt dat de PYD en de YPG op geen enkele manier deel uit kunnen maken van eventuele vredesonderhandelingen in Syri�, evenmin als andere terroristische organisaties zoals Al Qaida en IS. 'Degenen die direct of indirect vijandige groeperingen tegen Turkije steunen, lopen het risico de status van bevriend land te verliezen', aldus Davutoglu in een scherpe waarschuwing aan de bondgenoten. 'We kunnen niet toestaan dat een NAVO-land, eerst en vooral de VS, contacten onderhoudt met een terroristische organisatie die ons aanvalt in het hart van Turkije.'

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stond de Turkse media te woord tijdens een bezoek aan het hoofdkwartier van de generale staf in Ankara. Erdogan zei dat er veertien verdachten in verband met de aanslag zijn gearresteerd en dat er zeker nog meer aanhoudingen zullen volgen. 'Zelfs al proberen de leiders van de PYD en de PKK te beweren dat zij er niets mee te maken hebben, onze veiligheidsdienst heeft voldoende informatie verzameld om vast te stellen dat zij het gedaan hebben', zei hij.

Vrijwel tegelijkertijd vond er bij de zuidoostelijke stad Diyarbakir door de PKK een aanslag met een bermbom plaats op een konvooi van Turkse militairen. De ravage was groot, zes militairen werden gedood en ��n zwaar gewond.

In de Turkse media verschenen berichten dat de afgelopen dagen honderden strijders van de Syrische oppositie vanuit het gebied rond Idlib de grens naar Turkije over hebben gestoken. Met steun van het Turkse leger zouden zij in de buurt van Kilis weer richting Syri� gaan om de oppositie in Aleppo te ondersteunen.

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 23:03 schreef ClapClapYourHands het volgende:
https://vid.me/vtbJ

Vannacht zullen er 7000 stuks over de grens vliegen.

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Op vrijdag 15 januari 2016 01:20 schreef ClapClapYourHands het volgende:
Volgens berichten heeft het Turkse leger bombardementen uitgevoerd op Noord-Aleppo

12 jets vanuit Diyarbakir.

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WashingtonPoint twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 19:35:53 #Flash: US Spox Kirby says Ankara attack is an open question. Rejects Turkish PM Davutoglu's "certain link w YPG" assertion.New.escalation reageer retweet

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heissenstat twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 21:06:03 Last time US-Turkish relations were this low was 1974. Or perhaps never. reageer retweet

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heissenstat twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 23:04:49 American response suggests that Turkey is over-selling circumstantial evidence of YPG connection (which Ankara nonetheless may well believe) reageer retweet

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 23:22 schreef Bensel het volgende:

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ja, nu weet je waarom ze zo'n pak slaag krijgen.

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Op donderdag 18 februari 2016 23:28 schreef Nintex het volgende:

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Amerika heeft inmiddels met bijna alle landen ruzie, daar kan Turkije ook nog wel bij. Opvallend hoe die autist Obama dat zo snel voor elkaar heeft gekregen.

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mutludc twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 23:41:02 Civilians injured by Turkish howitzer attacks on Afrin and 2 other tows tonight https://t.co/8WagOz8fEO reageer retweet

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DrPartizan_ twitterde op donderdag 18-02-2016 om 23:25:06 Civilians fleeing clashes were not allowed to enter Turkey, so fled to Efr�n which was deemed a safe Kurdish town. Tonight, Turkey bombs it. reageer retweet